A Prophecy of Sand
by GingerFlight
Summary: Sequel to Fire of the Clans. Sandycloud is a new warrior,and has finally earned the respect of her Clanmates. But when mysterious things begin to happen, Sandycloud struggles with doing what's right, along with her love for her leader. HIATUS.
1. Chapter 1

FireClan

Leader Flamestar - handsome dark ginger tom with white paws and light green eyes

Deputy Lightningfur - huge golden tom with one white paw, copper colored eyes

Apprentice, Leopardpaw

Medicine Cat Webclaw - ghostly white tom with amber eyes

Apprentice, Grayflower

Warriors

Berrystream - creamy brown tabby she-cat with blue eyes

Shockfur - goden tom with white patches and blue eyes

Sandycloud - stunningly beautiful ginger she-cat with a spot chaped like a heart on chest, green eyes

Witherclaw - dark brown tom with a ragged ear and pale blue eyes

Duskwing - silver tabby she-cat with pretty light blue eyes

Deepfoot - gray tabby tom with deep blue eyes

Bloodfeather - ginger tom with white and gray flecks

Sorrelwing - tortoiseshell she-cat

Talltooth - long legged white tom with orange eyes

Tanfeather - light brown she-cat with a dappled coat and green eyes

Glaciercloud - pure white she-cat with two silver paws

Snowyfeather - white she-cat with ice blue eyes

Cedarfur - dark brown tom with lighter flecks

Thrushpelt - light brown tom with darker flecks and pale green eyes

Apprentice, Grasspaw

Scrawnyfur - long haired pale brown tom with ice-blue eyes

Willowheart - long haired gray tabby tom, blue eyes

Rosecloud - light brown tabby she-cat with wavy fur and dark blue eyes

Bearfoot - huge brown tom with paws a lighter shade of brown, green eyes

Apprentice, Forestpaw

Sprucefoot - long legged brown tabby tom

Apprentice, Flowerpaw

Fogpelt - silver tom with dark blue eyes

Wildfeather - brown tom with green eyes

Furryfall - long haired white tom with ginger stripes

Apprentice, Crystalpaw

Silverclaw - silver tom with black flecks and green eyes

Brackenfang - ginger tom with long legs and pale blue eyes

Weedfoot - brown tom with a white patch on forehead shaped like a W, sorrowful green eyes

Blazefur - dark ginger tom with very long claws

Shrubfoot - silver tabby tom

Apprentice, Streampaw

Ravenwhisker - black tom with gray paws

Whisperwing - small silver she-cat with a voice like a whisper

Apprentice, Pigeonpaw

Clawfur - gray tom with ice-blue eyes

Apprentices

Grayflower - silver she-cat with warm gray eyes, in training to be a medicine cat

Leopardpaw - ginger she-cat with black spots, fiery orange eyes

Grasspaw - long haired brown tom with one black ear

Forestpaw - dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes

Flowerpaw - golden brown tabby she-cat with a white spot on hind foot

Crystalpaw - pretty slender white she-cat with amber eyes

Streampaw - silver she-cat with white paws and a white tail

Pigeonpaw - light brown tabby tom with a ginger tail and green eyes

Queens

Frecklecloud - slender white she-cat with brown specks on paws and muzzle, eyes change color with her feelings, mother of Brackenfang's kits: Birdkit, Sparkkit, and Peachkit

Cloverwing - beautiful light brown she-cat with a wavy tail, clover colored eyes, pregnant with Fogpelt's kits

Frailwing - pretty brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes, pregnant with Ravenwhisker's kits

Swirlstream - beautiful long haired silver tabby she-cat, deep blue eyes, pregnant with Blazefur's kits

Elders

Pawflower - once pretty white she-cat with a black spot shaped like a paw on her flank

Halfear - dark brown tom with three golden paws, only one ear

CloudClan

Leader Pinestar - jet black tom with brown paws, ice blue eyes

Apprentice, Burntpaw

Deputy Pouncefoot - brown tabby tom

Medicine Cat Darkfoot - small tabby tom with one black paw

Warriors

Smudgepelt - black and white tom

Apprentice, Mousepaw

Graystream - gray tom with a short tail

Runningfoot - silver tabby tom with blue eyes

Crowfoot - smoky black tom

Apprentice, Beetlepaw

Snowpool - white she-cat with green eyes

Apprentice, Fadedpaw

Petalwing - light brown she-cat with sandy colored paws

Sootclaw - light gray tom with a dappled coat

Apprentice, Cracklepaw

Apprentices

Burntpaw - brown tom with flaming ginger paws and a ginger belly

Mousepaw - very dark brown tom with black eyes

Beetlepaw - light gray tom

Fadedpaw - very pale gray she-cat with even paler gray paws

Cracklepaw - brown tom with gray spots and burning crimson colored eyes

Queens

Honeyflower - golden she-cat with white paws, mother of Pinestar's kits: Stickkit and Stalkkit

Applepool - pretty ginger she-cat with a feathery tail, mother of Sootclaw's kits: Hissingkit, Stormkit, and Swishingkit

Elders

Applestream - ginger she-cat with sandy colored patches

AirClan

Leader Patchstar - brown tom with white patches

Deputy Meadowstream - light brown she-cat with eyes the color of the sea

Apprentice, Streakpaw

Medicine Cat Feverclaw - white tom with brown spots

Warriors

Fernfeather - small ginger she-cat with gray paws

Apprentice, Webpaw

Barkfoot - dark brown tom with white paws

Mistflower - small white she-cat with one gray paw

Eaglestripe - black tom with brown stripes

Apprentice, Molepaw

Flowertail - light gray tabby she-cat

Huntingclaw - long limbed brown tom

Hillfoot - huge silver tom with white specks around eyes

Apprentice, Harepaw

Hazeltail - creamy tabby she-cat with light green eyes and gray tipped ears

Foamsparkle - fluffy white she-cat with silver tinges to her fur

Apprentices

Streakpaw - ginger tom with a white streak that runs along back

Webpaw - light gray tom with silver ears

Molepaw - black tom

Harepaw - brown tom

Queens

Sleetstream - pale ginger she-cat with jagged white markings, mother of Hillfoot's kits: Dappledkit and Moorkit

Aquasong - silver she-cat, mother of Huntingclaw's kits: Pebblekit, Branchkit, and Craterkit

WaterClan

Leader Shellstar - white she-cat with a golden tail and and golden paws

Deputy Riverstorm - long haired gray tabby tom

Apprentice, Littlepaw

Medicine Cat Cottonleaf - fluffy white she-cat with amber eyes

Warriors

Yewclaw - ginger tom with long claws

Poolcloud - silver tabby she-cat

Dirtfur - dark brown tom with copper colored eyes

Apprentice, Bushpaw

Pebblefur - light gray tom with green eyes

Tigerstripe - dark ginger tom with a black stripe running down back

Apprentice, Shadepaw

Foxtail - ginger tom with a white tipped tail

Hawktalon - dark brown tabby tom with white paws and amber eyes

Apprentice, Sagepaw

Splashtail - pale gray she-cat with a long tail

Apprentice, Islandpaw

Woodfur - small brown tom

Icypool - pure white she-cat

Puddlecloud - silver she-cat

Apprentices

Littlepaw - very small silver she-cat

Bushpaw - gray tabby tom

Shadepaw - dark gray tom

Sagepaw - dappled ginger she-cat

Islandpaw - sandy colored tom with green eyes

Queens

Rushingstream - long haired silver she-cat, dark blue eyes, mother of Hawktalon's kits: Quailkit, Stormkit, Sedgekit, and Mousekit

Cats outside Clans

Rose - light brown she-cat that lives on farm near OwlPine with Night, pregnant with Night's kits

Night - black tom that lives on the farm with Rose

Oreo - black and white kittypet that lives in Twolegplace with Nellie

Nellie - golden tabby kittypet that livs in Twolegplace with Oreo

Goldenpelt - golden tabby tom, formally of FireClan

Willowflower - beautiful ginger she-cat, formally of CloudClan, pregnant with Goldenpelt's kits

Dewfeather - silver she-cat with green eyes, formally of FireClan, mother of Quailfeather's kits: Badger, Silver, Petunia, and Miley

Quailfeather - gray tabby tom, formally from CloudClan

Badger - silver tom with black markings over his eyes and a white stripe down his forehead and back

Silver - light brown tabby she-cat, silver chest and paws

Petunia - gray tabby she-cat, blue eyes

Miley - light brown she-cat, warm amber eyes

Redeye - ginger tom with cruel red eyes and a white tail tip

Poison - jet black tom with hard black eyes

Frost - gray tabby she-cat with cold blue eyes


	2. Prologue

**I managed to write this chapter before I left to go to the Philippines to visit some family. YAY! I hope you guys like it. I found it very mysterious. Like I said, I probably won't be able to write until next month, since we're leaving for the Philippines tomorrow, then I guess this is... farewell! (sobs, then gets over it) I guess I'll just see you guys next month or something. But I'll TRY to get on and write. Which I seriously doubt I'll be able to. And if I manage to see all your reviews, I'll just answer them by the fanfiction review answer thng. Ok, enjoy the chappie!! :D**

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It was a dark night. Tall trees covered the night sky, casting even darker shadows on the hard ground. A jet black tom padded through the dark forest, stepping silently across rocks and logs. A small movement in the dark bushes caught his eye. He twitched his whiskers. Mouse. With a quick leap, he landed on the mouse and dealt it a quick blow. Picking his catch up in his mouth, he hurried along, ignoring the eerie silence of the forest. His paws carried him to a thorny bush where the hideout lay. Suddenly, he pricked his ears. He sensed something just behind him. He paused, then swiveled around and curled his lip in a menacing snarl. No one was there. A leaf fluttered down from an elm tree and landed on his nose. He shook it off impatiently. Someone was there. He couldn't see it, but it was there.

"Show yourself!" he thundered. Nothing moved except the shadowy trees. Holding back a snarl, the black cat turned around and padded into the thorny bushes. Thorns prickled at his fur, but he didn't notice. A raspy voice suddenly whispered in his ear, "What do you have?"

The black cat dropped his mouse. Yellow eyes peered out from the thorny bushes, gazing down at the plump mouse. "It'll do," the cat meowed finally. "Go."

The black cat picked up his mouse and padded into the hideout. It was a hollow with large stones and ledges. Cats were everywhere, sharpening their claws on the rocks with glinting eyes, resting, or grooming each other. The rest were carrying prey to the largest rock in the hollow. The place where the leader held his quarters. The black cat padded towards the rock, but a voice stopped him. He turned and saw a gray tabby she-cat padding hurriedly toward him, her eyes blazing.

"What?" he asked impatiently.

The gray tabby leapt at him, bowling him over. "What?" she snarled. "You ask what? You killed my kit, that's what, you murdering piece of foxdung!" She bit down hard into his shoulders. The black cat kicked her off with his powerful hind legs and stood, his shoulder bleeding. He ignored it and growled, "It's not my problem, Frost. I was told to kill your kit."

"By whom!?" Frost's ice blue eyes blazed with rage.

"By _our leader_," the black cat meowed. "He has no patience for kits, you know that. And I agree with him. They're whiny little bundles of fur."

"Of course that's what you think," Frost mocked. "_You're _a tom!"

"Exactly." The black cat's eyes glinted.

"One day I'll kill you, I promise you that," Frost growled through gritted teeth. "No cat murders my kit and gets away with it!"

The black cat turned, ignored her, and padded on towards the stone. Suddenly, another voice stopped him. He turned around, thinking it was Frost. "What now?" he snarled, then he stopped and stared. An unfamiliar white cat stood before him. It gave him a calm look through piercing blue eyes. "Take me to your leader."

"How'd you get in here?" he growled, ignoring its order.

"None of your business," the cat meowed, its voice hardening. "Take me to your leader, fool!"

"Why should I?" the black cat asked, standing up tall so that he towered over the white cat.

"Because if you don't, I will make you wish you had never been born," the cat meowed calmly. It held up an unsheathed paw and studied it, flexing its claws in and out. The black cat growled, but he had to admire the cat's spunk.

"Fine. Come with me." He picked up his mouse again and continued to pad towards the huge rock. The other cat padded alongside him, looking as calm and cool as ever. When they had gotten to the stone, the black cat padded around it's edge until he found the hole that led into the tunnel. He slithered through it with ease. He turned and watched as the other cat struggled through the hole, finally popping out by his side.

"Follow me," he growled, then walked on through the tunnel. It began to slope downwards, going deep into the ground. It became dark. The black cat now depended on his whiskers to go along the way. He felt the other cat's hot breath behind him and sped up a bit, wanting to see if maybe he could just lose the cat and leave it to die in the tunnel. Unfortunately, the white cat ran as quick as a rabbit, coming up to his side in a heartbeat.

"Are we almost there?" it finally asked.

"Be quiet!" the black cat snarled, his voice low. "Never talk loudly in this part of the tunnel. The ground might cave in."

The white cat went silent, though its tail flicked to and fro with impatience.

Finally, there was a small flicker of light. "Here we are," the black cat sighed. As they neared the light, the white cat looked up and narrowed her eyes distastefully at. "What is that light? It smells."

"It's an old Twoleg thing," the black cat snapped. "Now stop asking questions." His paws stepped on soft sandy ground, and he knew they had reached their destination. The black cat padded forward and meowed, "Master, I bring you prey."

There was silence. Then suddenly, red eyes blinked out at him from the shadow of a stone.

"Ah. Poison," the cat growled. "Where is the prey?"

Poison dropped the mouse in front of the stone. Nothing happened, until a ginger paw darted out from behind the stone and grabbed the mouse. Poison dipped his head respectfully as there came a loud crunching sound from behind the stone. Then the voice meowed, "Good mouse, Poison. Now, what is it?"

"I've brought a cat," Poison growled. "It wants to see you."

"And when I say I want to see you, I want to _see _you, not talk to you from behind a stone," the white cat interuppted, glaring at the stone where the voice was coming from.

There was silence. Then a ginger head poked out from behind the stone. It settled its red gaze on the white cat and meowed, "Ah, good to see you again."

"You know each other!?" Poison asked incredulously, looking from his leader to the other cat.

"Of course," the white cat meowed smugly. "How do you think I got in here?" It padded up to the red eyed cat and growled, "I have some business to talk with you, cat."

The red eyed cat flicked a white tipped tail. "Go on."

"Why did you not kill that stupid mousebrained kitty ?" the white cat growled. "I gave you specific instructions, you promised to carry them out, and the next day I find the weakling alive and uninjured!"

"We were alerted by voices," the red eyed cat meowed calmly.

"She was a weakling!" the white cat hissed, ignoring what he had just said. "You couldn't kill a weakling!? You couldn't carry out one simple task!?"

The red eyed cat flicked his tail for silence. He leaned in close to the white cat. "I would have killed the mousebrained kitty, as you call it, but like I said, we would have been discovered. We heard voices getting closer, so we escaped as soon as possible. End of story."

The white cat's eyes blazed with rage, but it said nothing more. "I have something else to talk with you about."

The red eyed cat flicked his tail for the cat to continue.

"But first," the white cat meowed dangerously, "you must promise that you will help me."

The red eyed cat raised a ginger paw. "I swear by the darkness that I will help you."

"Good." The white cat looked satisfied.

The red eyed cat motioned for Poison to come closer, then nodded to the white cat to tell them its plan. It looked at them both, then quietly made its deadly proposition.

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**Soooooo... was it good? I liked it. There's a mysterious cat who's evil!! Actually, there's two. You know who Poison is, and Frost, but what about the red eyed cat and the white cat? You guys will never guess. See, when you think about it, the answer that seems most obvious isn't the right answer, while the answer that seems least obvious **_**is **_**the right answer. If that makes sense at all. Well, anyways, review and you get a Poison plushie!! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! **

**Bye, my loyal reviewers and readers! I'll miss you! (waves a handerchief in farewell)**


	3. Chapter one

Sandycloud opened her mouth, yawned, and stood up. Her head bumped against the rocky roof. "Ow!" she hissed, rubbing her head with a paw. The roof of the apprentice den must have sunken overnight. And then it hit her again. She wasn't in the apprentices den. She was in the warriors den. _And she was a warrior! _Sandycloud could have whooped with joy. After a long time of waiting and waiting, she had finally achieved her goal. She was a warrior, just like all her friends. She stretched and padded out of the den.

Stiff cold hit her as she padded outside. She did her best not to shiver. At least six moons had passed since she had become a warrior, and now it was almost leafbare. She spotted Frecklecloud laying down near the entrance to the nursery, watching her kits playfight. Birdkit, Peachkit, and Sparkkit would be apprentices soon, probably today. Next to Frecklecloud, Swirlstream rested in the shade of some withering ferns. Frailwing was curled up next to her. Both of their stomachs bulged. They would be giving birth this moon, that was what Webclaw had said.

Near the apprentices den, Streampaw, Pigeonpaw, and Crystalpaw shared a large rabbit. Close by them, Leopardpaw and Flowerpaw dozed off. Flowerpaw seemed to have gotten over Tabbypelt's death, although her eyes watered every time his name was mentioned.

Sandycloud's thoughts shifted to the Gathering after she had been made a warrior. When Flamestar had announced the new warriors of FireClan, there had been cheering and chanting. Until Flamestar said Sandycloud's name. Only FireClan chanted her name. Shellstar just stared at Sandycloud, and Pinestar hissed and stuck out his tongue. Patchstar stayed silent. Only a few cats from the other Clans came to congratulate her. Applepool had been one of the first from CloudClan to cheer for her. Sandycloud smiled. Applepool was a loyal friend.

Sandycloud gazed around. Where was Duskwing? And then Sandycloud spotted her, right next to Bloodfeather. A broad grin sprouted on Sandycloud's face. Duskwing and Bloodfeather had gotten veeeerrryy close over the moons. Sandycloud wouldn't be surprised if she woke up one morning and heard Duskwing yell, 'Sandycloud, Bloodfeather and I are having kits, YAY US!!'. The thought made Sandycloud fall over laughing even at the most serious of times.

She walked over to the pair, still smiling. Duskwing turned to face her and frowned. "What are you grinning at? You like Fogpelt when he wakes up every morning."

Sandycloud had seen Fogpelt when he woke up in the morning. And it wasn't that pretty. "Is that an insult?"

"No," Duskwing meowed quickly. "I couldn't think of anything else to compare you with, that's all."

"Ah." Sandycloud plopped down by them. "Soooooo... What'cha doin'?"

"Oh, we were just discussing how much rabbits look ugly in mustaches," Bloodfeather meowed in a solemn voice. "They really should look at their reflection in a puddle. Once they saw how ugly they looked, they'd die and we wouldn't have to kill them ourselves."

Sandycloud stared at him. "I lost you the minute you started talking about mustaches, whatever that is."

"A mustache is a curly thing that grows on the bottom of one's nose," Bloodfeather responded. "It looks like a furry worm."

Sandycloud glanced at Duskwing. "Could you translate for me please?"

"How can I? I don't know what the heck he's saying!"

"Forget it," Bloodfeather interrupted. "Listen, if you didn't know what I was saying, try talking to an Indian."

"What's an Indian?"

"Don't you guys watch TV!?"

"Erm... no..." Sandycoud mumbled.

"What's a TV?" Duskwing asked.

"Never mind." Bloodfeather rolled his eyes.

"Bloodfeather," Sandycloud began, realizing something. "Have you been sneaking into Twoleg nests again?"

"What? Me? No way!" The guilty look on Bloodfeather's face gave him away. "All right, fine! I confess!" Bloodfeather sobbed in Duskwing's fur. "Please don't behead me! Anything but the beheading!!"

Duskwing rolled her eyes. "He must have learned that from his "TV"."

Sandycloud nodded.

A yowl from the HighBoulder made them all turn around. Flamestar stood facing the cats, his fur blowing wildly in the cold wind.

"Cats of FireClan!" Flamestar yowled, raising his voice as the wind began to become high pitched. "Frecklecloud's three kits are ready to become apprentices. Birdkit, Peachkit, and Sparkkit, come here."

The three kits bounced up to meet him. Peachkit had an excited look in her eye, Birdkit was bouncing up and down, and Sparkkit was... just standing there. Looking bored.

"Birdkit, from this moment on you shall be known as Birdpaw," Flamestar meowed to the excited Birdpaw. "Your mentor will be Duskwing. Duskwing, teach Birdpaw your skill and knowledge."

"Oh, I will," Duskwing meowed eagerly. She kneaded her paws against the ground and raced up to touch noses with Birdpaw.

"Sparkkit, from this moment forth you are now Sparkpaw. Your mentor will be Silverclaw. Silverclaw, pass on your good humor and energy to Sparkpaw."

"You can count on me, dude!" Silverclaw meowed, touching noses with Sparkpaw, who still looked bored. Flamestar looked confused at the mention of the word 'dude'. He opened his mouth, then closed it again and shook his head. "Peachkit, from now on you shall be known as Peachpaw. Your mentor will be Ravenwhisker. Ravenwhisker, I trust you to pass on your fighting skills and strength to Peachpaw."

Ravenwhisker merely nodded and touched noses with Peachpaw.

"There is nothing else to report," Flamestar meowed. "Lightningfur, organize the patrols."

Lightningfur jumped up onto the HighBoulder. While he talked to the Clan, Sandycloud padded into the nursery to visit the queens. By now the queens had gone into the nursery to stay out of the freezing cold.

"So glad you could drop by, Sandycloud," Frailwing murmured drowsily. Beside her, Swirlstream yawned and fluttered open her eyes. "The cold makes me sleepy."

"I can see that," Sandycloud meowed as the two she-cats yawned.

"Look," Swilstream meowed. "I'll be having kits soon. Webclaw says it'll be any day now."

"Same with me," Frailwing replied. "I wonder what it's like being a mother?"

"I'm sure it'll be something wonderful," Swirlstream mewed.

Sandycloud felt a pang. She was in love with her leader, who already had a mate. It wouldn't work out. Sandycloud had sworn that she wouldn't take any other mate. She would probably never experience the joy of having kits.

"Anything wrong, Sandycloud?" Swirlstream's voice jogged Sandycloud out of her thoughts. She shook her head quickly. Swirlstream settled down in her mossy nest. "Oh, ok then. Hey, maybe when I have kits you can mentor one of them. You deserve it, you know."

"Thank you, Swirlstream," Sandycloud meowed, dipping her head. A few moons ago, there had been a battle between WaterClan and FireClan. Sandycloud had ended the battle by taking away one of the WaterClan leader, Shellstar's, lives in order to save Flamestar. After that, she wasn't the cat that everyone teased and spat at. Now she was respected among almost all the cats of FireClan. Almost, anyway. Snowyfeather made sure of that.

"I'll let you rest now," Sandycloud meowed to them, seeing their eyes starting to close. They nodded and curled up in a tight ball. Sandycloud left the den slowly, then raced quickly to the warmest spot in the camp, the medicine den. She took cover there, shivering.

"You sick?"

Sandycloud looked up and saw her friend, Grayflower, standing nearby her with some herbs next to her paw.

"No, just shivering." Sandycloud's teeth chattered as she said this. She gritted them together, making the chattering stop.

"Oh, good, because Lightningfur called you to go on hunting patrol and they already left without you."

"Hunting patrol?" Sandycloud groaned. She forced herself to stand, meowed good bye, and padded out of the camp. A cold breeze blew towards her face. She closed her eyes and pushed forward. She could smell the hunting patrol faintly by a rock, so she passed through there and let her nose guide her. Soon she had found the patrol hunting by a rabbit hole.

"So you finally got here, huh?" Scrawnyfur glared at Sandycloud. Sandycloud brushed past him, ignoring his threatening voice. Scrawnyfur sounded tough, but he was really gentle.

"At least she came," Glaciercloud shot back at Scrawnyfur. She gave her former apprentice a warm look and meowed, "Carry on."

The other cats on the patrol were Rosecloud, Blazefur, and and Thrushpelt. They continued on hunting without any other exchange of words. Sandycloud saw a sparrow flutter by and instinctively leapt into the air. She stretched and caught the bird by the wing, giving it a swift blow while in mid air. She dropped to the ground lightly with the bird in her mouth. Glaciercloud nodded approvingly. Rosecloud smiled at Sandycloud.

They hunted in the cold until Glaciercloud called them to a stop. "We have all the prey we need. Let's go back."

Everyone agreed instantly. The cold was starting to get to them. They all rushed forward, eager to get back to the camp. So they were, of course, all shocked when a fox stepped in their path. They screeched to a halt, bumping into one another as Scrawnyfur, who had been in the lead, slid forward on his back and came to a stop, his nose inches away from the fox's.

The fox grinned at them. "Hello."

The cats went in an uproar. "A talking fox? No way!"

Only Sandycloud was silent. She had met this fox before, on her way to Rose and Night's barn. She knew how to deal with it. But she had her doubts. The fox could have learned from his mistake by now.

"Hey, you!" Sandycloud meowed, stepping forward. The fox turned at her voice, and his grin broadened. "Ah, yes, I remember you. You've grown quite a bit since our last encounter, hm?"

"Sandycloud, what's he talking about?" Glaciercloud whispered.

"Long story," Sandycloud mewed softly. "Glaciercloud, you have to get some more warriors. I'll hold up the fox."

Glaciercloud nodded and raced away. The fox watched her go, then turned back to Sandycloud. "You made a fool out of me the last time we met, cat. That won't happen again!" He leapt at Sandycloud, bowling her down. Sandycloud screeched and bit his ear. The others stepped forward to help, but Sandycloud shook her head at them. She had seen the fox's strength before. She couldn't let the others get hurt too until backup came.

The fox scuffled with Sandycloud, until Sandycloud cried out, "There's a spider on your back!"

"Spider? Where!?" The fox sprang up and danced around, trying to reach over to his back and kill the spider. The other cats stared with their mouths open. Then the fox suddenly stopped and turned to glare at Sandycloud. "There's no spider, is there? You know I don't like dirty fur!! So you were trying to distract me! Again! You're gonna get it now!"

Sandycloud closed her eyes, waiting for him to land on her, but nothing happened. Opening one eye, she saw Flamestar clawing fiercely at the russet colored animal. Then she saw Duskwing, Glaciercloud, and Bloodfeather rushing forward. Sandycloud jumped up and fought with them. The rest of the patrol joined in the fight. The fox was outnumbered. He glared at the cats, then raced off, but not before Sandycloud had raked her claws across his tail.

"Thanks, Glaciercloud," Sandycloud panted. "You came just in time." Then she looked at Flamestar, the cat she loved so much. "Lucky you jumped on that fox," she purred. "It would've killed me if you hadn't."

Flamestar flicked her lightly with his tail. "Well, you did save me from Shellstar. I had to return the favor sometime, right?"

Sandycloud giggled and looked up into his eyes, so bright and shining, like beautiful green stones. She felt instantly mesmerized, and could feel her fur growing hot. "Yes, I guess so," she murmured.

Flamestar seemed frozen also, staring at her face, his nose inches aay from hers. Then he shook his head and tore his gaze away. "Come on, everyone. Let's get back to camp so we can tell the others about that fox."

As they padded along the trail that led back to camp, Sandycloud, lost in her own little world, shivered, not at the cold, but at the fact that she had been so, so close to the cat that she loved...


	4. Chapter 2

**Hi again! This is, like, the shortest chapter I've ever written for anything. Sorry about that. Since we're on vacation I don't have much time to write much. Anyways, this one has a look into _the future! _Sort of. Now that we have that cleared up, onto the review answers!!**

**Underwater Seahorse - I did give out plushies! But for some reason it didn't show up. Well, everyone who reviewed for the last chappie was supposed to get Duskwing and Bloodfeather plushies with their tails entwined, so here ya' go! (hands plushies out to everyone who reviewed)**

**Allan Pike - No way! If I calmed things down, we'd be bored to death. Besides, the talking fox was in the last story, too. It's perfectly all right.**

**Amberleaf - Yeah, I sure did. It was good, but there were a few things I should point out. I seriously doubt that Flamestar would yell at Snowyfeather like that. He loves her too much. And Snowyfeather, looking hurt? Ha! She'd never look hurt about that. She'd just look angry. You'll understand why in later chapters.**

**oxoxEnchantedxoxo - Of course I made a sequel. And after this there'll be a sequel, and after that there'll be a sequel... Unfortunately, no, that isn't what Flamestar's thinking. He just... likes her better and is more attracted to her than he used to be. **

**Ok, that's done! Read on, enjoy, and more importantly, review please!**

* * *

As the patrol entered the camp, heads turned to stare at them anxiously. Glaciercloud had probably told them about the fox.

Flamestar leapt onto the HighBoulder and looked down upon the cats, who had already gathered beneath the boulder. "As you all know, a fox was sighted in our territory," Flamestar meowed. "We chased it out, but it might come back, so be careful."

"So was it really a talking fox?" Forestpaw piped up, but lowered his head as his mentor gave him a warning glare.

Flamestar just nodded. Forestpaw still looked doubtful, but he shrugged.

As Flamestar called the meeting to an end, Sandycloud slipped into the medicine den. Her shoulder was beginning to hurt a lot. Near the back of the den, Webclaw was sorting out some herbs. When he saw Sandycloud, he ran over. "Are you hurt anywhere?" he asked, giving her a quick inspection.

"Only my shoulder," Sandycloud meowed, wincing with pain as another pang shot through her.

Webclaw pressed some cobwebs against her shoulder, telling her, "The only other thing that will cure the wound is some rest."

Sandycloud nodded, then padded out, heading for the warriors den. She was stopped by Duskwing and Bloodfeather.

"Excellent going there, Sandycloud," Bloodfeather mewed. "You showed that fox. At least, I think you did."

Duskwing gave him a look, then turned back to Sandycloud. "Have you noticed something odd, Sandycloud?"

"Erm... not really. Why?"

"Snowyfeather usually takes every opportunity she can to tease you or whatever pops into her mind," Duskwing meowed matter-of-factly. "She hasn't even come near you at all."

"You're right," Sandycloud meowed thoughtfully. "In fact, I haven't seen her all day."

They pondered over this for a few moments, then Sandycloud meowed, "Well, this is boring. See you later."

"Bye," Bloodfeather and Duskwing meowed in unision.

Sandycloud went straight into the warriors den and curled up in her nest. She closed her eyes and tried to sleep. A loud buzzing entered her ears, and she lifted her head drowsily. She then realied that the buzzing was really just Bearfoot snoring. She bonked him on the head with a paw.

Bearfoot opened his eyes and glared at her. "What'd you do that for?"

"I'm trying to sleep," Sandycloud mewed.

"Well, then, aren't we even!"

"Could you at least _try _not to snore?"

"What's wrong with my snoring!?"

"Webclaw told me to rest, and I can't do that while you're making all that racket!"

Bearfoot snorted. "Yeah, ok, whatever."

Sandycloud placed her head on her paws and let her eyelids droop. Then she narrowed her eyes and hissed in frustration as, next to her, Silverclaw rolled over in his sleep and right on top of her.

"Get off!" she growled between gritted teeth.

"Mommy!" Silverclaw murmured, still sleeping, then pressed himself against Sandycloud.

Sandycloud glared at him. "I'm not your mommy!" She pushed him away from her. Silverclaw was knocked against the cave wall, but still he slept like a kit. Sandycloud snorted and curled up. "Please, StarClan, help me to get some sleep!" she mewed quietly, then closed her eyes. Nothing happened. Sighing in relief, she wrapped her tail around herself and went to sleep.

_...Sand...Fire..._

Rain splattered on Sandycloud's nose. Sandycloud twitched irritably and shook it off. Opening her eyes, she stood up. "In the name of StarClan - !" Then she stopped and stared. She wasn't in the warriors den anymore. She was now in a dark forest full of shadows. Rain pattered down against her, soaking her pelt. She raced for the cover of some thick ferns and sheltered underneath. "How did I get here?" she wondered. An odd thought popped into her head. "I hope I wasn't sleepwalking again," she muttered. The last time she had been sleepwalking was when she had just become an apprentice. She had sleepwalked all the way to the Thunderpath and almost got trampled by a monster. Luckily, Applepool, Applepaw then, had saved her. That was the day when they had first met. Shaking the precious thought from her head, she gazed around, still trying to figure out what she was doing here.

A dark form slipped past her. Sandycloud was instantly on the alert, her ears pricked. She padded forward, watching as the form turned. She walked after it, trying to ignore the rain. She was focused so intently on the figure that she didn't even notice the noise that she was making. Finally, the shape stopped. Sandycloud almost bumped into it, but caught herself before that could happen. The figure turned abruptly. Sandycloud's eyes widened, and she jumped into the cover of the bushes. A streak of jagged lightning shot across the sky, lighting up the other animal's face. Sandycloud almost gasped, but then managed to stop herself. It was Pinestar!

Pinestar gazed around, his eyes flickering. "Who's there?" His voice sounded deathly calm. "You might as well give in."

Sandycloud stayed where she was, frozen.

Suddenly, with a swift movement, Pinestar jumped into the bushes where she was hiding and grabbed her. "Gotcha!" he hissed, not noticing her struggles against him. "You're coming with me!" He grasped her scruff and pulled her out of the bushes, continuing on his way. By now, Sandycloud had figured that it was all just a dream, but if it was, then why did it seem so _real? _

After a few moments, Pinestar dropped her roughly onto the ground. A muffled voice called out. Sandycloud was unable to distinguish it.

"Pinestar? Is that you?" A form sidled over to Pinestar. Although Sandycloud could see Pinestar clearly, the other cat seemed to blend in with the shadows and was slightly blurred. The cat looked over at Sandycloud and meowed, irritation in her voice, "Who in the name of StarClan is this?"

"Sandycloud of FireClan," Pinestar meowed, his voice oddly gentle. "Her mother was of CloudClan, and her father was of FireClan."

The cat bent closer to Sandycloud until they were eye to eye. Still the cat was blurred over, but Sandycloud could just make out icy blue eyes. "I see," the cat meowed. "A Half-Clan." The ice blue eyes glinted. "Let me do the honors, Pinestar."

"With pleasure," Pinestar purred.

The cat raised her paw. Long claws slithered out, and she brought her paw down. Sandycloud yowled, lashed out with unsheathed claws, and sprang onto the cat.

"Sandycloud! Seriously, you're killing me here!!"

Sandycloud's eyes popped open, and she found herself on top of Silverclaw, who was bleeding on his shoulder.

"Sorry, I - I was dreaming," Sandycloud apologized, jumping off of him.

"Some dream you must have had," Silverclaw grunted. "I feel like the world is leaving me, and my shoulder hurts sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo bad!! You seriously scratched me!"

"Sorry," Sandycloud mewed sheepishly.

"I hope you are," Silverclaw sniffed. "You've ruined my good looks!" He bounded out of the den without another word.

Sandycloud sat down, thinking about her dream. Her scruff ached, as if Pinestar really had carried her somewhere. It was a dream, but then why did it feel real? Sandycloud tried to forget and went back to sleep. This time, she was not disturbed by dreams of any sort.

* * *

**Yeah, like I said, very short chapter. A very odd one too. Look up at the dream part. I gave you a hint about the mysterious cat. It's a SHE. You thinking what I'm thinking? I hope not, because you might be wrong. **

**Anyone have any idea where Snowyfeather is? Anyone? Huh? Huh? (holds a microphone out to the crowd) You'll NEVER guess! Well, you might, but that's a one in a million possibility.**

**So review and tell me what you think!**


	5. Chapter 3

**I'M BACK!!!!!! I know I've been gone for a while, but, you know, school... and I had an author's block too, so please don't hurt me. Anyways.... REVIEW ANSWER TIME!!!!!!**

**The Underwater Seahorse - lolz. Nice guess. That's not really what's gonna happen, but good try anyway. :)**

**Lilyheart Medicine Cat - I dunno. (shrugs) And even if I did know, I wouldn't tell you.**

**Allan Pike - No, I will not tone things down a bit. If I tone things down a bit, it will be borishly boring. XD**

**Cinnamonpool - Hmm.... that's a lot of questions... well, the only one I can answer is that no, Pinestar is deinitely not the cat from the prologue.**

**Mudheart - (looks mysterious) Maybe... maybe not...**

***~Amberleaf~* - :3 You're close...... kind of.**

**Pottercat - Oh... about Tale of the Sand Storm... I'm gonna delete it soon. I got bored with it and just stopped writing. :( But it's good to hear from you!**

** - Thank you, thank you. (bows)**

**WarriorsRockMyWorld - (continues to look mysterious)**

**Angelfang - Thanks. :)**

**Streamshower - You want a snowyfeather voodoo doll? Ok. (hands over a Snowyfeather voodoo doll) Enjoy.**

**Silverstorm - Thankees!**

**Waterdragon - Thank you!**

**Feralkit - XD**

**Tear of Mist - So do I. **

**Well, that's all of them. Hope you like the chapter!**

**-Squirrelflightlover**

* * *

Sandycloud padded out of the warriors den in early morning. Something white fell on her nose. She shook it off, then looked up, joy sparkling in her green eyes. It was snowing! She walked over to the freshkill pile, where Streampaw was sitting.

"Hi!" she meowed.

"Hi, Sandycloud!" Streampaw replied back excitedly. "Guess what? It's snowing!"

Sandycloud laughed. "I don't really need to guess."

Streampaw ran around in circles. "But this is so COOL! I've never seen snow before! Dad told me and Pigeonpaw and Crystalpaw what it was awhile ago!"

"Your father?" Sandycloud pricked her ears. "Where is he now?"

"Somewhere with Mom, I guess," Streampaw shrugged. "I haven't seen her lately. Have you?"

"Not really." Sandycloud shook her head.

Streampaw looked worried. "Well, that's bad. She's always around you because of you-know-what." Her brow furrowed. "But she was gone all day yesterday."

Sandycloud had to hold her breath so that she wouldn't laugh. "It might be a bad thing for you, but for me it's a good thing."

Streampaw shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. Oh, I forgot to tell you! Shrubfoot's gonna take me out to see the stream today! He said it got covered with ice overnight!"

Sandycloud smiled at the young apprentice's enthusiasm. "Ah, I see."

At that moment exactly, Snowyfeather padded into the camp. Sandycloud raised her eyebrows in surprise. The she-cat's fur was all wet, as if she had been in water recently, and her eyes danced with something... triumph? Happiness? Sandycloud didn't know.

"Hi, Mom!" Streampaw meowed, waving at her mother. Snowyfeather's head turned, and she fixed her daughter with an icy glare. "Hello."

Streampaw flinched and looked down at the vole she had been eating.

Snowyfeather padded up to them and looked at Sandycloud coldly. "Hi, Half-Clan."

"Don't call me that," Sandycloud hissed.

"What'cha gonna do about it?" Snowyfeather replied smugly. "Run off to your CloudClan mummy and cry?"

Sandycloud growled, then forced herself to remain calm. "I didn't see you yesterday? Where were you?"

"None of your business," retorted Snowyfeather. "Why? What's it to you?"

"No reason. Just that Flamestar might've been worried about you," Sandycloud replied innocently.

Snowyfeather snorted. "Flamestar? Well, he might've been, but he knows that I like to go off on my own sometimes. I don't need some idiot Half-Clan to point that out to me." She whipped around and padded into the warriors den. Wet droplets of water flew into Sandycloud's face. She growled and shook it off.

Streampaw stood up, her unfinished vole still on the ground. "I'm gonna go see Srubfoot now. Bye." She walked slowly away. Sandycloud watched her go, then picked out a mouse from the pile and tucked in. _Stupid Snowyfeather... _she thought as she took a bite.

As soon as she had finished eating, Sandycloud looked around for Flamestar to see if he had seen Snowyfeather yet. She saw him padding out of his den, freeze, then race over to Snowyfeather and lick her ear happily. She sighed. For the billionth and one time, she wished it was herself in Snowyfeather's place.

She looked around for Duskwing or Bloodfeather. They weren't there. Probably off somewhere hunting. After a last look around, she padded out into the forest.

The ice cold snow prickled at her nose, making her sneeze, but she pressed on. She wanted to get as far away from the camp as possible so that she could think. Then she brightened. She should visit Rose and Night! She hadn't seen them in forever. With that though in mind, she hurried along. The snow on the ground became deeper every second, so she went on as fast as she could.

And then it stopped snowing. Sandycloud looked down. Her paws had just begun to disappear in the deep white stuff. _Thank StarClan it stopped, _she thought. _If it had gone on much longer I'd be buried in this._

She looked around for the familiar barn. Unfortunately, she realized, she'd come to a not-so-familiar place.

"Oh great," she moaned. She looked around just in case she might recall her surroundings. She couldn't. Sighing, she decided she might as well try to find out where she was heading to. Maybe, if she was lucky, she would find some fresh-kill. So she continued to walk. Tall oak trees brushed up against her on all sides. Sandycloud stuggled through the snow, feeling relieved that she had thick fur.

After what seemed likes decades, Sandycloud saw a light up ahead. She poked her head curiously above a large rock.

In front of her was what looked like a gigantic box of wood. On the top of the box, a pointy thing stood straight up, smoke billowing out of it. It took Sandycloud a few minutes to realize that she was staring at a Twoleg nest.

She would've gone forward to check the next out if the door to the nest hadn't opened. She froze. A Twoleg emerged from the nest, carrying two cats. Sandycloud blinked, her heart pounding. She hoped the Twoleg wouldn't see her.

The Twoleg paused, muttered something, then flung the two cats it was holding into the snow. The cats lay sprawled across the ground, the white stuff muffling their landing. One of them, a black and white tom, stood up and yowled at the Twoleg, "You can't do this to us! You're our housefolk!! Let us in!!!" He rushed at the open door, but the Twoleg got in before him and slammed it in his face. The tom fell over, clutching his nose with a paw. "Ow," he hissed, then rushed over to the other cat, a golden tabby she-cat. "Nellie! Are you ok?"

The she-cat stood up. "I'm fine, Oreo," she meowed, although she didn't sound fine. Her voice was weak, and she was coughing and shaking badly. The tom pressed against her, and Sandycloud noted with wide eyes that the she-cat was pregnant. Her heart went out to the pair. _I can't believe their Twoleg would do that!! _she thought angrily.

But before Sandycloud could make a move to help them, two cats burst out of the bushes and surrounded the kittypets. They weren't Twoleg pets; they were rogue cats, willing to kill anything that tresspassed in what they thought was their territory.

The first one, a brown tom, grabbed Oreo and flung him away from Nellie. The other one, a large, scarred white tom grabbed Nellie and held her by the scruff of her neck. Nellie struggled weakly. "Let go!"

Oreo gasped and stood up. "Nellie! Don't you dare hurt her, you brute!"

"Brute?" the white tom asked, grinning between Nellie's scruff. "How'd you know my name? Nice to meet you. But this isn't time for introductions." He glared at Oreo. "What are you doing on our territory?"

"_Your_ territory!?!?" Oreo hissed. "We live here!"

Brute nodded to the brown cat, who promptly jumped and raked his claws across Oreo's chest. Oreo yowled in pain and fell down to the ground, panting. Sandycloud winced from her hiding spot. These kittypets weren't used to fighting. They didn't stand a chance.

Brute chuckled. "You live inside, not outside. Inside is your territory, outside is ours."

Oreo stood up, his blood stained chest heaving. "I'm warning you! If you don't let go of her, I'll - "

"You'll what? Hit yourself?" Brute smiled, pressing his claws against Nellie's face. "If you make a move or don't give me a proper explanation as to why you tresspassed, your pretty little friend here will never live to see a sunny day again." He glanced downwards. "Neither will her kits."

Oreo growled, but could do nothing, just stand there and watch helplessly as Nellie squirmed in the white cat's grip.

"Now tell me," Brute meowed slowly. "Why have you tresspassed?" He poked a claw against Nellie's throat. "You'd better give the right answer. Or else."

"We weren't tresspassing!" Oreo hissed.

"Wrong answer," the tom grinned. "Say bye-bye to your friend."

"NO!!" Oreo began to rush at Brute, but was pushed aside by the brown tom. Brute grinned and brought his claws down.

Sandycloud couldn't take it anymore. She sprang from the cover of the rock and onto the white tom. "Let go of her, you piece of foxdung!"

"Foxdung!?!" Brute dropped Nellie, who immediately scampered up a tree. The tom whirled on Sandycloud, growling. "Nobody calls _me _foxdung!" He attacked Sandycloud, biting down on her ear. Sandycloud's ear began to throb viciously. The tom again thrust out an unsheathed paw, but Sandycloud dodged just in time. With a snarl she leapt forward and raked her claws down Brute's eyes. The tom yelled in pain, staggering off to the side. Blood dripped down his face. Sandycloud smiled in satisfaction. He had been blinded. "That's what you get." Leaving the tom to moan, she whipped around to face the other brown rogue. "I'm game for another fight," she snarled, sinking her claws into the snow. The cat stared at her, then zipped away faster than Sandycloud could have imagined.

"Coward!" Sandycloud yowled after him, then rushed over to Oreo. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine." Oreo struggled to his paws. "Where's Nellie? Is she all right?"

"She went up a tree." Sandycloud looked around, then saw the plump golden tabby slide down to the ground.

"Nellie!" Oreo rushed over and began to lick Nellie's ears. "Did that cat hurt you?"

"N - No," Nellie stuttered, unable to say anything else. She stared at Sandycloud in awe.

Oreo turned around and dipped his head to Sandycloud, gratitude etched all over his face. "Thank you. If you hadn't gotten here in time my mate would be dead." He pressed closer to Nellie, trying to warm her. "What's your name?"

"Sandycloud."

"Odd name." Oreo cocked his head. "Are you one of those forest cats?"

Sandycloud nodded. "I live with a Clan called FireClan. But you wouldn't know about that." She looked at Oreo's chest. "You're hurt badly. I can take you to my Clan. We have medicine cats that can heal you."

"No, that won't be necessary," Oreo meowed quickly, but Nellie stammered, "Oreo, we have to go, or we'll freeze to death out here."

Oreo glanced at his mate, then nodded. "Very well. Where is this Clan of yours?"

Sandycloud turned back to the forest, hearing the blind rogue stand up, run off, then bang into a tree. She smiled. "Just follow me."

_...Sand...Fire..._

Webclaw shook his head and looked down at Oreo and Nellie, muttering, "If I could lay my paws on those Twolegs..."

"You'll be able to cure him, won't you?" Sandycloud promptly asked, looking at Oreo, who had become unconscious. Nellie stood to one side, still shivering and staring at her mate with wide, scared eyes.

Webclaw scoffed and answered her question with another question. "Can birds fly?" He bent his head down and pressed another wad of cobwebs against Oreo's chest. "He'll be perfectly fine by the time I'm through with him."

Sandycloud heard a rustle behind her, but didn't turn around as Grayflower's voice panted, "I got here as fast as I could. I was out looking for some good herbs when Bloodfeather came running to tell me." The she-cat raced over to Oreo's side. "How is he?"

"He'll be fine," Webclaw grunted.

"H - How can we ever repay you?" Nellie mewed, speaking for the first time.

Webclaw waved a paw at her. "You don't have to repay us. The only thing I want is to know that you'll both be all right."

Nellie's eyes flooded with grateful tears. Hastily Sandycloud asked, "So why did your Twoleg throw you out?"

Nellie stiffened. "It wasn't Oreo's fault," she hissed. "That Twoleg kit was trying to drown me in a bucket of water - "

"Drown you??" Sandycloud, Webclaw, and Grayflower said at the same time.

Nellie nodded miserably. "And Oreo scratched him. Badly. I was glad he did that for me, but the grown Twoleg saw what happened and threw us out in the snow." Her lip trembled. "They haven't been treating us that well ever since they found out I was going to have kits." She lowered her head and went silent.

Sandycloud pressed comfortingly against the she-cat. "Well, at least you're alive. Come on, I'll show you to the nursery." She steered Nellie out of the medicine den and to the nursery. Sandycloud felt many pairs of eyes looking at them curiously. Then they stopped as a white cat blocked their way.

"Who's that?" Snowyfeather meowed abruptly.

Sandycloud glared at her. "Move."

"Not gonna move until you answer. Who is she?"

"She's a cat from Twolegplace," Sandycloud muttered as softly as she could, but Snowyfeather heard it and looked scornfully at Nellie. "A kittypet? First Half-Clans, now kittypets. What is the forest coming to?"

"It'll come to an end if you keep jabbering away like that," Sandycloud spat.

Snowyfeather eyed them coolly. "Are we taking her in?"

"That depends," Sandycloud mumbled.

Snowyfeather wasn't giving up yet. "And she's having kits?"

Sandycloud's temper snapped. "What does it look like?" she snarled. "Now move! She's freezing!"

Snowyfeather glared at them both for a few more seconds before moving aside to let them pass. Sandycloud rushed Nellie into the nursery and sat her down on some fresh moss. The other queens raised their heads and looked over curiously.

"Who's that?" Frailwing asked. Beside her, three kits popped up and blinked wide eyes at Sandycloud.

Sandycloud was taken aback and momentarily forgot what she was doing. "You gave birth?"

Frailwing beamed. "Yes!" She pushed her kits forward with her tail. "The black one's Shadowkit, the brown tabby is Rushkit, and the black and gray one is Glarekit."

Sandycloud looked down at the kits. Shadowkit was staring at his paws with a very moody expression, Rushkit was beaming up at Sandycloud, looking innocent, and Glarekit met her gaze quite calmly. Sandycloud blinked. Glarekit's eyes were narrowed downwards, frozen in a permanent glare. "What happened to him?" she asked, hoping she didn't sound offensive.

"He was born that way," Frailwing meowed.

"I'll have to congratulate their father," Sandycloud said, thinking of Ravenwhisker and wondering if he knew already.

"So who's she?" Swirlstream piped up.

"This is Nellie," Sandycloud meowed, looking over at Nellie, who had been watching them intently. The golden tabby stood up hastily and mewed, "Um... well, hi."

The two queens returned the greeting. Sandycloud then told them about what had happened earlier. Swirlstream eyed the kittypet. "You're having kits? Really? Are you going to stay here? Are you going to let your kits stay here? Will you go back to Twolegplace? Will you live with that horrible Twoleg again? Will you - ?" Her voice became muffled by Frailwing's tail.

Nellie blinked slowly. "We - as in to say, Oreo and I - haven't decided yet." She became silent.

"So - ?" Swirlstream began again, but Frailwing hissed quietly to her, "Not now! Can't you see she's tired?"

Sandycloud stood up. "Well, I'll just be going then." She exited the nursery before the queens could say anything else.

As she pushed through the snow, she walked straight into Flamestar and sent him sprawling to the ground. Sandycloud's eyes widened. "Oh, um, I'm sorry, Flamestar, I didn't mean to hit you, I was, I mean, I was just - "

Flamestar stood up and chuckled. "You should see your face, Sandycloud."

"My face?" Sandycloud froze. She hoped her face wasn't betraying her feelings to him. "Wha - What's wrong with my face?"

"Nothing, really, except you look like panicked squirrel," he laughed.

Sandycloud relaxed a bit. "Oh, well, that's good, I mean, that's, um... funny," she finished feebly.

If Flamestar noticed the tone of her voice, he showed no sign of it. "So what's all this about kittypets in the Clan? Snowyfeather told me," he added after she looked blank.

Sandycloud forced herself not to roll her eyes and recounted the story again. When she was done, Flamestar nodded. "I see. Well, they can stay as long as they want. I'll tell the Clan later." He padded off.

Cursing herself, Sandycloud walked over to the fresh kill pile and sat down, staring at the prey but not eating.

A few seconds later, Ravenwhisker walked through the camp entrance with Bearfoot and Whisperwing and sat down beside Sandycloud. "Hi," he meowed.

Sandycloud nodded curtly to him, remembering briefly about the times that he used to taunt her. "Congratulations, by the way."

Ravenwhisker looked confused. "What'd I do?" he asked uncertainly.

"You didn't do anything. Wait, you mean you don't know?" Sandycloud stared at him.

"Know what?" he asked, looking suspicious.

"About Frailwing giving birth."

Ravenwhisker jumped up, forgetting all about the thrush he had been about to eat. "What!?!?" Without another word he raced into the nursery.

Repressing the urge to laugh, Sandycloud stood, stretched, and padded into the warriors den, where she met Bloodfeather and Duskwing, both who were looking excited.

"What's up?" Sandycloud asked.

Duskwing opened her mouth, but Bloodfeather had already said, "The sky's what's up!"

The silver she-cat smacked him on the head.

Bloodfeather rubbed his ear. "What was that for?"

"For being idiotic," Duskwing snapped, although she looked more amused then angry. She turned to Sandycloud. "I'm having kits!"

It took Sandycloud a moment to register this, then her face blanked again. "You're kidding. Who's the father?"

"Mr. Idiot here," Duskwing mewed, glancing at Bloodfeather, who didn't seem to have heard her last comment and was strutting over to Thrushpelt, meowing, "Yeah, did you hear that? I'm gonna be a father!"

Sandycloud laughed as she heard Thrushpelt yell, "YEAH, AND YOU'VE BEEN TELLING ME THAT ABOUT FIFTY TIMES!!!"

"Sorry that we kept forgetting to tell you. It's been so busy these days. But you probably knew anyway. And with that said... Why didn't you come earlier to congratulate us?" Duskwing demanded. "Seriously, I would've thought that you of all cats - "

"I've sorta been busy," Sandycloud meowed apologetically before telling the story about Nellie and Oreo once again. Duskwing and Bloodfeather, who had come back over at the mention of Twolegs, gasped.

"Those poor cats," Duskwing murmured.

Bloodfeather shook his head. "Jeez. Twolegs have problems."

Duskwing stood up. "I think I'll go see Nellie." She walked off briskly to the nursery. Bloodfeather looked up, looking surprised at being alone with Sandycloud. For a moment he looked awkward, then he meowed, "Erm, Sandycloud?"

"Yeah?" Sandycloud turned to look at him.

"Do you think we could just... forget about what happened a few moons ago?" he mumbled.

Sandycloud blinked, remembering when they had been apprentices, and Bloodfeather had told her that he was in love with her. "Yes, I think we ought to forget about that." She patted his shoulder. "Good to see you went on with life, though. Duskwing's happier then ever."

"Yeah." Bloodfeather's eyes sparkled. "Duskwing's a wonderful she-cat. I love her more than I could ever say. And probably more than I'd ever love you. No offense," he added quickly.

Sandycloud smiled. "No offense at all. I mean, I'm sure you do love me, but only as friends. _Right?_"

Bloodfeather nodded hastily. "Uhhuh, only as friends, nothin' else, whatever ya say, miss." He stood up. "I think I'm gonna go to the nursery too. Bye bye, Sandycloud." He turned and left quickly. Sandycloud was left sitting there, lost in thought. Then she shrugged, curled up, and fell asleep.

Sandycloud was dreaming. She was standing in an unfamiliar area. Blood soaked the ground at her paws. She stiffened as she heard a noise near her. "Who's there?" she asked. No answer.

Feeling increasingly worried, Sandycloud leapt onto a tree branch and gazed at her surroundings. All was quiet. And then suddenly claws came slashing out of the air towards her. Sandycloud yowled and fell down as the claws tore at her face and neck. She stared up, horrified, as a strange cat moved into view. He seemed vaguely familiar, but who was he? He glared down at her with hard, cold black eyes and meowed in a deep voice, "Your end is near. We are coming."

"Wha - What do you mean?" Sandycloud stammered.

She received no reply. The cat looked down at her with those hard eyes, then his claws came down for the last time.

Sandycloud woke abruptly, panting. She stared wildly around. The moon had come up, and some other cats had already crowded inside the warriors den. Blinking and trying to clear her mind, Sandycloud wrinkled her nose at the smell of blood. She continued to look around, but saw nothing. Sandycloud slumped back down on her nest and closed her eyes again, soon breathing slowly and peacefully. She dreamt of nothing else the rest of the night.

* * *

**I probably rushed a bit with this chapter, but who cares? Anyways, if you're wondering why I introduced Nellie and Oreo in the story, then I'll just say that they both have important roles in the story later on. **

**WOOT!!!! DUSKWING'S HAVING BLOODFEATHER'S KITS!!! YAY!!!!!!!! XD**

**So, if you review, you get.... NELLIE AND OREO PLUSHIES!!!!! And also GLAREKIT PLUSHIES!!!! Cuz he's important too. Oh, yes, he's verrrrrrrrrry important.**


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